Phishing tactics spawn new industry

MADISON, Wis. (3/8/05)--Even though a fraction of the nation's financial institutions have been affected by "phishing" scam tactics, a group of technology companies is trying to help prevent and defend against this growing fraud.

The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) is an alliance of financial institutions and technology companies. More than 150 financial institutions have been fraudulently portrayed through such attempts, but only a few of the nation's 9,000 financial institutions have taken proactive steps, according to APWG Chairman David Jevans (Washington Post March 4).

Recently, the "America's Credit Unions" logo and Credit Union National Association (CUNA) were used in attempts to gain information from consumers. And Michigan State University FCU, East Lansing, is one of the smaller institutions that was targeted as well (WLNS.com March 4).

According to an APWG report, scammers are using more advanced technology and using it against smaller institutions. In January, there were 12,845 new, unique phishing messages reported--an increase of 42% over December's reports ( Business Wire Feb. 24).

Portland, Ore.-based Corillian is one of the companies that provides anti-phishing services to banks and credit unions. Because of its experience in developing online banking sites, Corillian can spot hackers who may "case" a site by downloading graphics, spending a lot of time on the site or checking the site on weekends.

It also can trace hits on high-quality images on the institution's site to an unauthorized user.

Known for its virus protection, Symantec Corp., Cupertino, Calif., offers anti-spam e-mail protection and information.

NameProtect, another Portland, Ore., company, monitors spam, domain-name registration and counterfeit bank sites for clients' trademarks. It also has helped the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Secret Service in shutting down sites that trafficked more than 1.4 million stolen credit card numbers.

Shutting down phishing sites can be time-consuming and expensive. By offering a two-factor authentication process to consumers, financial institutions can help stave off such attacks.

Stanford FCU, Palo Alto, Calif., selected Passmark Security of Redwood City, Calif., to provide a two-way, two-factor system that authenticates the user to the site and the site to the user, and identifies the user's computer hardware as a second authenticator (News Now Feb. 7).

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Resource Links
Anti-Phishing Working Group resource list
How to Avoid Phishing Scams
ID Theft: How to Prevent It and How to Get Over It
Resources to fight phishing fraud


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